11-18-2024

Good Morning All,

      Amos 5:24; “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

    There was a television ad that spoke of someone giving “2%”.  It talked of a store that takes 2% off the price and calls it a sale.  The gist of the ad is you have to commit much more in order to make it matter.  Sometimes we do that as well.  We only contribute a little to the cause. We see it in our jobs. We all know the guy who seems to do just enough to get by.  He seems to have a knack for working when the boss watches or when evaluations are done but the rest of the time, he is either “out” or doing something mindless. We have teammates like that as well.  They never really work in practice; they really only seem to care about their own stats. We deal with slackers who don’t put in the effort. The only thing worse is when we are the slacker.

     The really sad thing is that many Christians seem to think they only need one type of relationship, the one that God has with them.  I hear many people who talk of “me and God” as all they worry about and all they need.  They think that they are a singular entity existing all alone. These people are missing out on a huge part of what it means to be a Christian.  Being a Christian is about fellowship, about being a brother or sister to your neighbor.  When we think we can live a sterile, selfish life we soon find we are wrong.  True Christianity is a very messy business.  It requires you to get involved in the lives of people around us.  That can be easy when we are all the same, but it can be tough when some of us are different. 

     Some of us may not have the wealth that others have.  Some of us may not be as smart, or good looking.  Perhaps, because of age or other health reasons we don’t walk as well or talk as well.  Maybe, because of poor choices we made earlier in life, we are left broken and damaged.  Sometimes, these are the people we tend to avoid.  We want to invite people to join our church, but they have to be the right people.  We marginalize and reduce rather than build and edify.

     Yet God tells us that when we only go part way with our faith; that when we think we can turn our witness for Christ on and off; we are really missing the point of God’s grace.  God frees us from the bondage of sin and the slavery to the law.  He frees us to be what are meant to be: social creatures who care for each other.  It is sin that causes us to see differences when there aren’t any.  It is sin that causes us to look only to our own needs, to our own relationship with God.  God calls us to live together, sharing the joy and the sadness, the highs, and the lows.  He calls us to see that the fellowship of all believers, indeed all people, is treated with the love and respect that God created us with.  This is why he calls us to see that justice occurs.  It is by our actions that our faith is best seen.  It is as a wise man once said,” preach the gospel every day, use words if you have to.”

Dear Father, we often fail in our relationships with our brothers and sisters, and we focus only on our own needs.  Forgive us when we look past or around those in need.   Lead us to see that the greatest value is in serving our brother and living in righteousness before you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret       

11-17-2024

 Good Morning All,

     Mark 9:35; “And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 

    Do you remember Muhammad Ali?  Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, the Ali shuffle, the rope-a-dope; all these phrases were associated with him.  Yet the most famous was his claim that he “was the greatest boxer, the greatest fighter of all time; I am the greatest!”  This boast made him the most loved and most hated boxer of his era.  Most people who followed sports at all had an opinion on Muhammad Ali.  There was even a song about him.  Was he the greatest, I don’t know; he was very good.

        We often hear debates about the greatest.  The interesting thing about these arguments is that we are somehow involved with the one we proclaim as the greatest.  Who is the greatest team?  You probably cheer for them.  No matter how we look at it, we like to be the greatest, either personally or vicariously.  We like to be the important one. We may feign modesty and claim not to want to be in charge but when important decisions are made, we want our opinion heard and followed.  We like and seek greatness. We want to be on top.

     This is really part of our sinful nature.  When God created man, man was to care for the creation and to live in God’s presence.  When sin entered the world, man went from a creature that loves, with all its focus outward, to a creature that lusts, with all its focus inward.  With our focus inward, we no longer feared or loved God; we became God’s enemy.  We sought out our own personal greatness by placing all our selfish goals and ambitions above everyone else.  We see this often as people, whom the world views as successful, have broken relationships left in the wake of their drive and desires.

    Yet God calls us back to our humanness.  God calls us back to the relationship with him that we were created for.  God calls us through his Son to return to the family and to live a life where we fear, love and trust in God above all things.  Our greatness is found in God’s love pouring out of us, going through us, to be a blessing to those around us.  Our greatness is not found with an inward focus but with an outward one.  We are to be creatures of love seeking to serve others with comfort and consolation, a helping hand, with a word of hope and prayer. 

    It is easy to fall back into the life of inward focus; the devil and our sinful nature encourage it.  Yet we find this life to be hollow and lacking any sort of true satisfaction.  The life of inward focus leaves us only wanting more, more attention, more greed, and more self-centered desires.  It is never quenched; we never have peace or contentment.

    God calls us back to the peace that he alone can give.  God brings to us the comfort and the reconciliation to make our lives whole.  This is part of our re-creation which continues until we return to live with him in heaven.

 Dear Father, our greatness is found in your undying love.  Give us that due sense of peace and contentment.  Guard us from the devil’s snares of selfishness and self-centeredness.  Move us to love as you have loved us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret         

11-16-2024

Good Morning All,

       2 Peter 2:1a &3a, “But false prophets also arose among the people…. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.”

    I once knew a man who could impersonate many people. No one famous but many local people that we knew. It was really quite amazing.  The voice pattern, the inflections, the pronunciations were all very accurate. If he was out of sight, you might have trouble figuring out if it was the real person or him. It made me wonder how often we trust that the person on the other end of the phone is who we think it is.  Or is the likelihood of someone trying to mislead us is so small that it will never happen; but could you be misled by someone?  If someone could sound just like a friend or an acquaintance, how far could they go to fool you?  What do we look for when we trust our ears and what we hear?

     The first is to recognize the voice.  When we hear someone that we know, trust and respect, we tend to believe what they say.  The next is probably familiarity with the message.  If the person we trust is simply re-stating some prior truth or expanding on it, we would probably trust that to be true.  After someone we personally knew, we probably trust someone from an institution that we trust like a university or a Church.  If the speaker has a title after his name, we tend to trust them more.  There are criteria which we follow but when do the alarms start going off?  When do we start to question what is being said?

    In our verse, we contracted a longer passage down to the main elements, false prophets, and the exploitation by false words.  Scripture warns us that there will be many who do this.  Even at the time of the writing of the Bible there are already false teachers spreading false doctrine.  So how do we know the truth from falsehoods?

    The apostle John tells us to “test the spirit”.  We need to see if it sounds like what we have already been taught in the past.  If someone comes up and says they have discovered a whole new way to interpret Scripture; it is going to be a false teaching. If this teaching does not fit with anything else in Scripture or it contradicts Scripture; it is a false teaching. God’s message to us is simple.  Jesus died to pay for our sins.  This we receive by faith.  It allows us to stand righteous before God.  As God declares us righteous, we are free from the devil and the burden of the law.  We are free to live the life that God wants us to live.  We live in his holy presence with thanksgiving and praise, asking him to meet all our needs and calming all our fears.  Since God has reconciled us back to him, God wants us to reconcile with our neighbor and to befriend and aid our brother in need.  We are to live out our life in joyful expectation of God keeping his promise of eternal life.  This is the basic Christian faith; any variance from this is probably a false teaching. Listen closely, trust God’s Spirit to guide you as you listen and hear the impersonators teach for false greed and avoid them and their lies.

Dear Father, give us a discerning heart as we listen to the noise of the world and the lies with which it attempts to deceive us.  Keep your Word strong and its proclamation true.  Hold us safely in your arms and protect us from all evil.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-15-2024

Good Morning All,

      Amos 5:15, “it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

   What do you do with the leftovers?  We almost always have some form of leftovers.  If you make supper, there are usually some leftovers.  When you are making the meal, you might have some leftover ingredients.  If you are building a deck; you might have some lumber leftover.  What do you do with it?  Do you save it?  Do you throw it away?  Do you estimate whether it is worth saving?  Do you place a value on the leftover before you decide to keep or toss? 

    We all place a value on our leftovers.  If you made a gold necklace and had some gold leftover, would you keep it or throw it out?  If you serve Thanksgiving dinner and have 5 pounds of turkey and 4 pounds of ham leftover; do you keep it or throw?  What if it is a half-cup of that salad that your aunt brings that you cannot stand; do you keep or throw? 

    It is interesting how we view leftovers.  If it is meatloaf we may debate eating it.  If it is chili or some stew which gains flavor as it sets in the fridge; is it a leftover if it tastes better the third time, we eat it? 

    Leftovers are a curious lot.  Almost by definition they are second class, second best, a portion which may or may not be thrown away.  It is a portion which may or may not have value.

    There are many times in our lives when we feel like leftovers.  Have you ever gone somewhere with some friends and then run into some of their other friends that you don’t know?  Have you ever felt like the odd person out?  We all get in the car to go somewhere and one of us doesn’t fit.  The last person picked for the team.  The one who was 8^th for seven pieces of cake; the only one not to get into the game; sometimes we feel like leftovers.

     Sometimes the pain is unbearable.  The whole family gets together but you can’t make it.  When they talk of the fun, are you just the leftovers?  Maybe a loved one has decided that you are just a leftover in their life as they move on.  Maybe the job you have done for 25 years now finds you expendable or a leftover.  There are lots of ways for us to feel like leftovers and the devil loves to add to it.

    God loves leftovers!!  He saved the remnant; he saved you.  He saved you not because he views you as leftovers, but he views you as his beloved children.  His love for us is beyond anything we can ever measure.  We are never just the leftovers; we are always his choice selections.  Wherever He finds us or wherever he places us, we are his beloved children.

Dear Father, we give you thanks that you always hold us close as your favorite and not just the leftovers.  Give us the courage to reach out to those who the world treats as leftovers.  Lead us to show them your love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret              

11-14-2024

Good Morning All,

      Philippians 2:15,” that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”

    Why are we here?  This isn’t some metaphysical, highly theological abstract question; it is an honest question.  Why doesn’t Jesus take the Church out of this world to be with him now?  He could leave a few really good evangelists and take the rest of us to heaven.  That could be a very workable plan, we could all be saved, safe in heaven, enjoying eternity with Jesus; what could be better?

    Nothing could, or will, be better.  However, Jesus has a mission for the Church and that is to serve as lights in the world in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.  Does that describe our world or what?  Abortions are common and “acceptable” choices.  There is a debate in England about the “acceptability” of post-birth abortions (murder).  One in five Americans claims no religious affiliation.  That doesn’t count those who “claim” affiliation but aren’t sure what that means.  We live in a crooked and twisted generation.

     Yet into the twisted generation that was Judea and Galilee of 4 BC, Jesus came and healed those whom he touched.  He brought the good news of salvation and the healing of the Holy Spirit to a crooked generation.  He brought God’s reconciliation into the world and through His death and resurrection gives us hope, hope for a better tomorrow.  The devil loves a crooked and twisted generation.  He can spin us and toy with us, using us as his playthings.  The devil loves things like the debates about aborting a live child.  He loves it when people think that abusing people is an “acceptable” choice.  It is all about choice, isn’t it?  We are “free” to make whatever bad choice we want regardless of who we hurt.

     This is why Jesus wants us, his Church, to remain in the world, for a while anyway.  Jesus calls us to be that light in this dark world.  We are that light when we comfort the family who just had a baby die.  We are that light when we give food to that family is hungry.  We are that light when we show mercy and compassion to that person who is sick and has nowhere else to turn.  We are that light.  He ties this all together when Jesus taught about the unforgiving servant or when he told the Pharisees,” I demand mercy not sacrifices” Jesus wants us to be that light in this world.  We are to bring the Gospel to all those we meet and see.  We are to show that hope.  We live those problems; we live those troubles, but we live them with hope, the certainty of God’s eternal grace and God’s eternal riches.

Dear Father, give us the strength to be your light in this crooked world.  Give us the wisdom to know how to be that light and give us the endurance to outlast the devil and our sinful nature as they attack us while we do your work.  All this we ask in Jesus precious name, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret

11-13-2024

Good Morning All,

      Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

   Some days are just a real struggle, a real battle.  At the end of the day, we are completely exhausted.  Yet we go to bed and rest very little.  How come our life can be a struggle?  It seems like others don’t have struggles.  The truth is that we all have struggles; it is just that some can be seen while others cannot.

    Everyone struggles with some issue.  It might be trouble at work, at school, or at home.  But sometimes it seems like Christians have more struggles than non-believers, why is that?  If we are God’s children, why is it such a struggle in life?

    Through the years I have met people who struggle.  One couple, both very devout believers, had a daughter who detested the church and had no belief in God. They really struggle with that.  Some had issues with their place of employment, some have really struggled with their relationships, some finances, some addiction issues, some seemed to live in a really dark place.

     These are the same struggles that we all deal with.  Perhaps there are even some tougher struggles to deal with.  Dealing with death, family relationships especially with children or spouses, issues that may require some ethical decisions like hospice or adoption.  We all struggle, and we struggle because we are Christians. 

      That is what our verse tells us.  We wrestle (struggle) not against flesh and blood but against the devil.  We struggle because our faith matters in our life.  We struggle because we strive to follow God’s will.  Look at our examples. What unbeliever would care if their daughter was or wasn’t an unbeliever? What unbeliever doesn’t place a measure on their relationship and as soon as “you are more trouble than you are worth” don’t bail on that relationship?  We struggle because of our faith.  When it happens, don’t be caught off guard, don’t be surprised. 

     As a believer, you are in the devil’s sights and when you struggle the devil is ready to make it more difficult.  The devil is ready to make it difficult to follow Christ.  Why does it always seem that everyone else can cheat, lie, steal, act in any fashion they want but we think it is wrong, so we struggle with these actions?  It is because we know God’s will and the spirit moves us to follow God’s will, but our own sinful nature tries to cause troubles, so we struggle.

     So, when those struggles occur always remember this.  At the end of it all, you are God’s forgiven, redeemed child.  He loves you, cares for you and gives you the promise of eternal life.  This doesn’t always remove the struggles, but it gives us hope to overcome them.

Father in heaven, you know the days that we struggle and the devil whispers loudly in our ear.  Give us an extra measure of your grace that we will defeat him.  Lead us to seek out your Word for comfort and also the arms and ears of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret        

11-12-2024

Good Morning All,

    2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you.”

     How many times have you made a promise?  How many times has someone made a promise to you?  How many times have you broken a promise?  How many broken promises have you had?  All of these questions probably are quite a few.  A big part of this is we use the word promise way too freely.  I promise to pick up supper on the way home.  I promise to wash clothes when I get home.  I promise to come to your ballgame.  I have made all those promises and broke each of them, more than once.

    Perhaps you have too.  We all have made promises and not kept them.  Yet most of us have made major promises which you are keeping.  For those of you who are married, how long have you been keeping that promise?  If you are not married, look at your parents and grandparents. 

    Notice the change in the verb from kept (or made) to keeping.  A true promise is one that you are always keeping or fulfilling.  That is what the verse for this morning is telling us.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise…toward you.  The Lord made a promise to you; a personal promise to you.  The Lord God, creator of the universe, makes and is keeping his promise to you.

    Another thing about this promise is that it looks to the future.  When you took (or will take) your wedding vows, you are promising for tomorrow.  You promise to love and remain faithful “until death us do part.”  God promise for you is future oriented as well.  The promise made to you is a continuing promise for eternity.  You are given the promise of eternal life.  It is looking forward to what God promises not to what you did in the past.

    Another thing about a promise is that it depends on the person who makes it.  We all know (or maybe) someone who makes a promise, and the expectation is often (we’ll see).  The promise depends on the trustworthiness of the one who makes it.  God is always faithful to his promises.  God’s promises are always kept.  That is part of why God addresses himself as “the God of your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”  It shows God’s faithfulness.

    This is the promise for you.  It looks forward and depends totally on God.  It comes to us as a gift.  God keeps this promise every day.  Even, maybe even especially, on those days when we struggle or feel that God is far away; He isn’t.  He is always close to you, keeping his promise; a promise that includes eternal life, the comfort of the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of your fellow believers.  God keeps his promises new and fresh every day, trust in his promises.

Dear Father in heaven, we give thanks for your holy promise.  Give us the strength and the courage to hold onto that promise.  Lead us by your Spirit forward with your promise.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret